


the milk is sour

by westchester_tao



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Can be platonic or romantic, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 13:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30056196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westchester_tao/pseuds/westchester_tao
Summary: Korekiyo's night alone is interrupted.Gonta's only doing his job.---Takes place during and has spoilers for Chapter 3, with allusions to spoilers from previous chapters.
Relationships: Gokuhara Gonta & Shinguji Korekiyo, Gokuhara Gonta/Shinguji Korekiyo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	the milk is sour

**Author's Note:**

> Once again: spoiler warning for Chapter 3 moving forward!!
> 
> This fic is based off of a Chapter 3 rewrite me and my friend created. I wanted to write something while I work through Red Admirable, so I decided to push this one out in two sittings. It's a bit artsy and there's no explicit romantic implications, though this was written with the intention to lead into a romantic pairing, so take that as you will.
> 
> :] <3

It’s all so quiet.

Korekiyo has been in his lab for the past 4 hours, spent most of it pacing with his nose in the ancient old book, anxiously committing words to memory he’s long ago already ingrained in his mind. He walks the shapes of the séance circle into the empty space of hardwood in front of his door, practices his fox walk along the creaky floorboards on all fours, listening carefully to the slowly fading voices of his fellow students outside of his door.

Nighttime has already begun, meaning Korekiyo has lost much of the natural light that usually illuminates his anthropology lab, yet the expansive staircases are still backlit by moonlight. They cast long shadows into the display cases filled with artifacts Korekiyo once couldn’t have dreamed of holding in his own two hands.

He hears a group of students pass by his doorway- _Shuichi, Tenko, Maki_ \- and head down the hall towards Angie’s lab. They’re speaking in hushed voices, but Korekiyo doesn’t hear any resistance from Tenko. Not surprising- he’s known it’s all been an act for a long time. He has witnessed zealots in the past, and she was always far too mild in her obedience for him to ever consider her a devout.

After they pass, Korekiyo makes his way up two of the flights of stairs, walking across the landing to pull open one of the cupboards. It has a slide lock he keeps clasped at all times, which he slides out of place before carefully and quietly prying it open.

His plan is all laid out before him. 

There’s two canisters of salt pushed against the back, with a sturdy hand saw placed in front. He’s also grabbed himself a sports bag, which is currently folded, to carry the wooden beams once he is finished, just in case he needs to quickly and discreetly transport their location.

It is all planned so perfectly.

He is so caught up in the bliss of such a perfectly constructed plan that he does not hear the footsteps approaching until it’s far too late.

The front door to his lab, the one facing away from Angie’s lab, swings open with a long drawn out creak as Korekiyo quickly slams the cupboard, standing straight and still like a deer caught feet away from the grill of a truck, long hair sweeping behind him as he faces the source. His eyes meet a confused-looking Gonta, who looks too small for his dauntingly large figure as he’s pressed against the doorframe. He runs the back of his hand under his glasses before meeting Korekiyo’s eyes again.

“... Kiyo?” Gonta calls out, his voice echoing back to him in a chorus as it travels up towards the rafters of the anthropology lab. Korekiyo is standing like a guard dog, teeth bared through the sharp look in his eyes where they peek out from under his hat as he glares down at Gonta from above. He’s framed in moonlight from the window. “What is Kiyo doing?”

Korekiyo stays unbelievably still for a moment, and Gonta wonders if it’s a defense mechanism, like a leaf bug pressed against a tree branch to stay hidden. That maybe if Korekiyo does not breathe, does not blink, does not fidget or waver he will blend into the dark browns and reds of his lab with a camouflage bestowed on him by some force other than nature.

Or maybe, Gonta thinks, Korekiyo hopes the ice in his eyes will scare Gonta away.

Gonta’s not scared.

“Kiyo, you are meant to be resting,” Gonta speaks up again, stepping through the doorway so he can shut the sliding door behind him. He doesn’t attempt to move closer, but he has good enough vision to see an angry twitch in Korekiyo’s brow as the door _click_ s in place. “We have mandatory curfew, and it is Gonta’s job as student council to make sure all students go to dorm.”

Korekiyo remains still for another few seconds before his posture slackens ever so slightly, his eyes closing as he ducks his head. The hat he wears pulled over his brows obscures his face, casting a dark shadow over his skin. “I am well aware of your supposed curfew, Gonta,” Korekiyo begins, lifting his head to look back down the stairwell. “How were you aware of my presence here… if I may ask such a question of you, Gonta.”

“Gonta was in dorm to go to bed like other friends, but Kokichi knock on his dorm,” Gonta explains, wringing his hands together. Korekiyo is hard for him to talk to- he uses big words and flowery language that makes Gonta sound _stupid, stupid, stupid_ \- but Korekiyo never talks down to him. Not like the others. So he continues. “Kokichi tell Gonta that students are out past curfew, and it Gonta’s job to go find them. That they were going in direction of Angie lab, so Gonta come up here to find them. He check each room for friends to make sure everything okay.”

Korekiyo lets out another breath from his nose, reaching around his shoulder to sweep his hair across to his front. He combs through it anxiously with cloth-covered fingers, looking away from Gonta to regain his composure. “I see… That is quite unfortunate, then, as I have not come across Kokichi tonight, so I’m afraid I am not who you were searching for,” Korekiyo’s hand catches a knot in his hair. He tugs it free. Gonta takes a deep inhale somewhere in the darkness, but before he can speak again, Korekiyo continues, “However, I am sure you will not let me walk free tonight now that you’ve found me, regardless of the fact I was not your intended subject of the hunt.”

He sees Gonta nod in the corner of his vision. “Gonta wants to prevent any more killings from happening, and best way to do that is to have nighttime curfew. That what Angie tell us.”

 _Ironic_.

“Well, then, I suppose I will not resist,” Korekiyo watches his feet as he descends, placing his feet perfectly within the floorboards, letting his heels click against the hardwood as he tosses his hair behind him once more. It follows him like a cape crafted from silk, and he hears that relentless noise in his head tell him to watch his posture. To watch his composure. 

Gonta is waiting for him with a warm expression when he reaches the bottom, already pulling the door open behind him to let Korekiyo step through before him. He acknowledges the gesture with a nod, stepping into the haunted hallways. Here, his footsteps creak and the air goes still. It smells like death in this corner of the world.

“Let Gonta lead the way,” the taller boy smiles, closing the lab behind him and turning to face Korekiyo with one elbow extended outward. “It’s what gentleman would do! Don’t Kiyo think?”

Korekiyo chuckles somewhat dryly- not that it seems to phase Gonta- and takes Gonta’s arm in his hand. The fabric of Gonta’s suit is calloused with wear and strain, Korekiyo can feel it through the bandages, but it is so characteristically _Gonta_ that it doesn’t even faze him. 

They begin their walk through the hallways of the academy, Gonta walking a little too quickly through the fourth floor to reach the walkway downwards. It’s peacefully quiet.

Gonta has always been disturbed by the lack of crickets and cicadas at nighttime, misses the way they used to sing lullabies to him as he laid out in the grass, but it’s especially noticeable now. He forgets, sometimes, that Korekiyo is human, because he’s built like a porcelain doll and sits under an exoskeleton of cloth layers, but as they arrive on the second floor’s landing, he can hear Korekiyo breathing in the quiet. It’s muffled by the mask worn over his nose and mouth, and it sounds like he might be trying to cover it up, but Gonta hears it clearly in the songless silence.

When he looks down to the other boy’s face he looks… tired.

He couldn’t see it in the dark of the lab, but Korekiyo’s eyes have sunk into his face. There’s a smudge of eyeliner across his eyelid, a permanent crease in his brows, a certain downturn in his eyes that screams of exhaustion, and Gonta brings his other hand around to place it against where Korekiyo has settled.

“Is Kiyo alright?” Gonta whispers, worried to disturb the silent while simultaneously overwhelmed by the urge to check in on his companion. Korekiyo’s eyes look up to him, hidden in the nighttime shadows and the cast of his hat, misty yellow and black like _A. vittatum_.

Gonta has always seen Korekiyo perched high on the outside of the group, circling and watching for all the details he can catch. Korekiyo mutters under his mask as he’s propped against the cafeteria walls, and Gonta hears his recite life stories like they're collector cards under his breath. He doesn’t think Korekiyo knows he can hear him- he’s the only one who possibly could, after years of forest training wore him down to _senses_ and _strength_ and _stone_ \- but he thinks in that moment Korekiyo realized he wasn’t the only one who could read a room.

Because Korekiyo looks like a wild dog. Pinned down. Hungry.

“I’m quite alright, Gonta, I must assure you. Tonight has just been… hard on the soul, for someone so tender towards humanity as I. So much death and desperation, while beautiful in it’s execution, would linger heavy on the psyche of anyone, no matter their mental fortitude,” he speaks the last line with his face to the horizon, and Gonta feels compelled to look out upon the same. “This game is draining to the people-watcher. Even after all of the pain I have bore witness to in my expeditions, I have never quite been overcome with such personal distress as I have now.”

“It is an overwhelming site to watch people fall into the clichés of our history. The martyr has led you all to unite under the same fear she tried to save you from, and while my apprehension to such organization is rooted in my understanding of humanity’s motivations, I also have enough comprehension of such motives to know that you all are doing the best you can to protect yourselves,” Korekiyo muses. His hand wraps around Gonta’s arm tightly, trying to focus on the pressure against his fingertips to block out the noise screaming **_failure, failure, failure_ **in his head. “I, in my own ways, am acting in a way to protect myself as well.”

Gonta nods. “Gonta think he understand. Angie tell Gonta about how Atua keep Gonta and friends safe, so Gonta do his best to help Atua,” he gently pats Korekiyo’s hand against his arm in a comforting gesture, and Korekiyo hates the way he melts into it. There’s a careful affection in the way Gonta treats him. A stray dog. Broken. Confused.

“Indeed,” Korekiyo affirms, fidgeting at his own sudden awareness of the position he has found himself in. How did he let himself be coddled on the night of his final thesis, the turning point of everything he’s fought for his whole life. It was all supposed to lead up to _tonight_ , not _this_. “Not much different than yourself, I have been working to keep myself safe.”

As he speaks, the two pass through the indoor courtyard and approach the main doors. Gonta pulls away to open the door, letting Korekiyo walk ahead of him once again before letting it close behind him with a metallic _click_. He takes his place at Korekiyo’s side once again, but he keeps a space between them this time as they make the short walk to the dorms.

“Gonta sorry if he scared Kiyo,” Gonta suddenly speaks, folding his hands together in front of himself as he walks. “He just been thinking about it and… Kiyo probably have reason to be by himself in lab, and was probably focused on study since Kiyo is very smart, and Gonta did not mean to be scary.”

Korekiyo chuckles, crossing his arms. “I assure you, it’s quite alright Gonta,” he says, causing Gonta to once again turn his attention back to the other boy. “I understand you were only doing what you believed would keep you and the others safe. You were also… protecting me, by doing this. So I should be grateful.”

They walk into the dorm building together, side by side, and Gonta walks with Korekiyo to his room. Korekiyo unlocks it swiftly, turning back to Gonta before walking inside.

He takes a short bow. “Thank you for walking me back, Gonta. I… appreciate the company,” he smiles, watching Gonta hurriedly mirror his bow. “And thank you for listening to my rambles, I am always grateful for an active ear.”

“Of course!” Gonta smiles back, offering Korekiyo an awkward one-handed salute. As Korekiyo turns to open his dorm, Gonta says behind him, “Just to make sure Kiyo is aware… he knows when Gonta say he want to protect his friends, Gonta is including Kiyo, yeah?”

The statement makes Korekiyo freeze, one foot in the doorway. Turning back, Gonta is looking down on him with his firm, serious expression- the one he wears when talking about bugs, about being a gentleman, about _his friends_ . And Korekiyo freezes under the weight of such implications on his life, because Korekiyo has not heard himself referred to as a _friend_ since he was a child. When his peers' affections were passed off as nothing more than childish ignorance, because **_no one would ever care for you like She could_**. 

Because it makes him wish he could hear Gonta call him his friend every day for the rest of his life, until it didn’t scare him anymore, until he knew how to tell Gonta that _you are my friend as well_ and actually mean it. 

Because it makes Korekiyo question everything he’s ever done for love, everything he _planned_ to do, if he could find such kindhearted affection so plentifully in a companion.

He can only say, “Thank you, Gonta,” because he’s weak and afraid, but he really means it this time. 

And unlike what the others think, Korekiyo knows Gonta’s intelligence. He has said it before in passing, but he wished he could spell out Gonta’s value and worth to him in bright neon lettering, paint portraits that carried even a fraction of his importance, could be even a little bit as brilliant. Korekiyo reads Gonta’s intelligence all across the man’s face when he smiles, because Korekiyo knows that he understands. That Gonta can hear the _because, because because_ he wants to say, expects no apologies for his weakness.

“Goodnight, Kiyo. Stay safe,” he says. It’s a question.

“Goodnight Gonta. I will see you tomorrow,” Korekiyo responds.

It’s a promise.

**Author's Note:**

> title is based on "oom sha la la" by haley heynderickx. the entire album is very gontaguuji, so i definitely recommend it


End file.
